Gasper hits tying homer in 9th, Wallner adds winning blast as Twins rally to beat Blue Jays 7-5

TORONTO — Mickey Gasper hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning, Matt Wallner added a go-ahead homer and the Minnesota Twins rallied to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-5 on Tuesday night.

Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman came on in the ninth with Toronto leading 4-3, but Gasper greeted him with a game-tying homer, the first of his career.

Four batters later, Wallner gave the Twins the lead with a two-run homer, his 20th. Wallner homered twice in Monday’s 10-4 loss.

The Twins snapped a three-game losing streak and won for the third time in 12 games.

The blown save was Hoffman’s seventh in 35 chances. Hoffman has allowed 12 home runs.

Hoffman (8-5) left to boos from the crowd of 42,235 after walking Edouard Julien. The right-hander retired two of the seven batters he faced.

Minnesota’s Michael Tonkin (2-0) got two outs for the win and Justin Topa pitched around Daulton Varsho’s pinch-hit RBI double in the ninth to earn his fourth save in six chances.

George Springer went 4 for 5 with two home runs, but it wasn’t enough for the AL East-leading Blue Jays. Springer hit a 433-foot drive in the second, then added a 445-foot blast in the fifth. The homers were his 23rd and 24th. It was Springer’s fourth multi-homer game this season and the 28th of his career.

Luke Keaschall hit a two-run home run for Minnesota, his third.

Key moment

Wallner connected on the first pitch he saw from Hoffman, a 96 mph fastball.

Key stat

The Twins have homered in 22 consecutive games at Rogers Centre, dating to 2017. It’s Minnesota’s longest home run streak at any road stadium. The Twins homered in 21 straight games at Kansas City between 1998 and 2001.

Up next

Blue Jays LHP Eric Lauer (8-2, 2.76 ERA) is expected to start Wednesday. The Twins have not named a starter.

__

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb